Gordon Ramsay's Simple Tip For Keeping Apples And Avocados From Turning Brown

Those with littles at home (or just picky adult eaters) understand the struggle of going through vast amounts of produce, namely toddler-friendly foods like avocados, apples, bananas, and berries. And when we say "go through," we mean there are a lot of pieces of fruit with one to two bites taken out before they're relegated to the refrigerator for another shot at the next mealtime. But, sadly, by the time they reach the plate again, they're often brown. Even though the taste is nearly the same, picky eaters are not swayed by logic, and these once pristine fruits are destined for the compost bin. 

It seems like there aren't many good ways, either, to prevent the browning of our leftover avocados and apples. You may have tried fancy silicone molds, plain old Ziploc bags, and even leaving the aforementioned fruit in a bit of water, only to find that the brown returns. But, as it turns out, a simply pantry staple may be the savior. 

As celebrity chef and notoriously blunt culinarian Gordon Ramsay showcased on his YouTube channel, there's a pretty simple tip for keeping apples and avocados from turning brown. ill a bowl with several tablespoons of water, add a few squeezes of lemon juice, then place your apples or avocados cut-side down in the mixture while you're prepping other ingredients. You can leave the fruit in the lemon mixture in your refrigerator until you're ready to use it again, or at room temperature, though it won't last quite as long. As a note, you may want to rinse a bit, if the idea of a hint of citrus doesn't appeal to your eaters.

You may be wondering how such a simple trick as using lemon juice works to prevent the discoloration. It's mostly due to its ascorbic acid and citric acid. The acid lowers the pH in your apples, avocados, and other prone-to-brown fruit. This low-pH environment essentially deactivates the enzyme responsible for browning, polyphenol oxidase, by altering its shape. This helps to reverse the oxidation process to begin with, which is what causes the enzymatic browning of apples, avocados, and other fruits like bananas and pears, too. The less oxygen that can get to your avocado or apple, the less browning will occur. This, by the way, is the same reason that adding lime juice to guacamole prevents browning. 

Although Gordon Ramsay's trick does work, it won't completely stop your apples and avocados from browning. It will, though, lessen the brown situation if you apply a bit of lemon directly to the cut flesh and store it in the refrigerator. There are plenty of other ways to prevent browning, too, such as using  a salt water solution for sliced apples, or rubbing fruit juice on sliced avocado, like Michael Symon does, before wrapping tightly in foil. Try a few and see which works best in your kitchen.